those who use Lamictal

Those of you who use Lamictal, do you give the medication in the morning of in the evening? I have always given in the evening, but was asked by school if maybe taking his medication in the morning would make a difference. IEP is tomorrow and that question will probably be addressed. Just wondering when everyone else gives it.

difficult child takes 300 mg a day of Lamictal and does 150 mg in the am and 150 in the pmDr originally had her take it in the am and then increased it and divided it into twice a day. He likes in am better for some reason if we only give it once a day. I seem to remember one of the side effects may be sleep disturbances so if that's true am would be better.

We only take it in the evening, but difficult child is only on 100 mgs, and unsure if we will go higher. I would not think it would make a difference behavior wise when you took it, as it does not work like a stimulant, it has to build up in your system.

We divide it, too. My difficult child 1 takes 100 mg in the morning and 100 mg in the evening. My difficult child 2 takes 75 mg in the morning and 50 mg in the evening. My understanding is that it is recommended the dose be divided to keep the Lamictal concentration in the blood steady.

Both my son and my friend who takes it for temporal lobe epilepsy have told me Lamictal can cause inability to sleep for a few hours after taking it. The prescribing information recommendation is that it be taken twice a day for seizure control but can be taken once a day when used as a mood stabilizer unless the patient is also taking carbamazepine (Tegretol), phenytoin, phenobarbital, primidone, rifampin or valproate (Depakote). So, my friend takes his Lamictal as early in the evening as he can and my son took all his first thing in the morning, even when he was on 400 mg (now considered to be twice the recommended dose).

my difficult child 1 takes his at 100 mg in the am, but i don't think it matters much as long as no doses are being skipped. no matter what time anyone recieves the medication, it will still last the 24 hrs. hope that helps

Our daughter takes Lamictal (200 mg now!) in the AM along with Lexapro (20 mg) and Abilfy (2.5 mg) - I think the dose is not split because she takes Depakote ER 1250 at bedtime and the two work in much the same way.